Lovely property but poor customer service
Review Submitted: October 6, 2009
Date of Stay: September 2009
How disappointing, this property is indeed lovely however after being warmly greeted by the manager on arrival and after a long flight we were shown the very steep flight of stairs and instructed to carry our suitcases so as not to touch and possibly damage the "soft antique timber on the steps". After recovering from the exertion of the stairs we were asked to carefully read the extensive book of rules. Following this all 4 guests were quite nervous and most anxious to be the perfect house guests; we even made beds, carefully folded used linen and generally cleaned prior to leaving! After 3 weeks of no replies to our polite emails requesting refund of our deposit we received an email from the owner wrongly accusing us of damaging the property and advising he would let us know the cost of repairs which "may take a further 2 weeks". We were horrified and quite distressed about the email and were not sure of what to do, thinking we would lose our security deposit. The email was then followed by another from the owner saying he had now realized he had the wrong renters and the only form of apology we have received was "will issue refund of your deposit today sorry for the delay". All I can say is we would not receommend the property and thankfully we were able to wait 3 weeks for a refund of our deposit.
Owner's Response: I was sorry to hear that these particular renters did not accept my apology for mixing up their names with another group that came directly after them that damaged some of the walls in the property (never had damage done before to the property). There was a delay in returning their initial email due to my property manager ending up in the hospital and assessing the work needed to fix the damage. When I sent them the email notifying them of the damage I immediately noticed my error and sent them the followup email as they say (within less than an hour) and apologized and instantly refunded their full deposit. Not sure how long they could have felt distressed since everything happened less than an hour time.
Once again my appologies for any inconvenience the delay may have caused. It was not my intent. We promise on the renters agreement full deposit refund within a week if damage is not done to the property. Unfortunately due to all the above it took three weeks rather than one week. That had never happened before and not our usual practice and once again we apologized for the error. Please read all the other reviews and decide on your own. As for the stairs; yes there are stairs but have not heard any of my previous renters complain. Also the welcome binder we provide is to instruct and assist renters with the house to increase their satisfaction (i.e. property managers contact information, WIFI instructions if needed, how to operate stereo/media system if needed, music library, outside grill, map to street parking and restaurant menus etc). Unfortunately for some reason these particular renters found it to be extensive book of rules...not sure exactly how to respond. Once again please read the other reviews and decide on your own. Thanks so much. Ron (owner)
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